Cancer Man
|next = }} "Cancer Man" is the fourth episode of the first season of Breaking Bad. Teaser Hank Schrader puts his DEA team on notice that "new players in town" are making super-pure meth. Operation "Icebreaker" turns into operation TBD when Steven Gomez jokes that "Icebreaker" is the name of a breath mint. Hank describes the "new players" as being of a high skill set. We then cut to Walter White, standing at his bathroom mirror in his underwear, messily brushing his teeth. Summary Walt, Skyler White, Hank, Marie Schrader, and Walter White Jr. have a poolside barbecue at the White residence. Hank dispenses dating tips to Walter, Jr. and Walt reminisces about the first time he met Skyler. The story causes Skyler to burst into tears and Marie asks what's wrong. Skyler points to Walt. "I have cancer," Walt says. "It's bad." Later, the adults discuss Walt's situation. Skyler thinks that chemicals from long-ago lab work might have caused the cancer, but Marie steers the conversation towards the next steps for Walt and talks about lining up "an oncology dream team." Hank assures Walt that whatever happens, he'll take care of Walt's family. Jesse Pinkman, hanging at his house with two friends, Combo and Skinny Pete, brags about cooking a great batch of meth, but only offers them pot, saying he's trying to lay off the meth because it's making him paranoid. They get up to leave, but he says he's just joking, and pulls a bag out of his pocket. "Best scante ever." The next morning, Jesse peers through parted curtains at the street outside. He takes a hit off his pipe. Strange sounds echo in his head and, eyes widened, he sees two scruffy bikers march toward the house, each tossing and catching a grenade in one hand and brandishing a huge knife in the other. Jesse scurries away, grabbing a meth baggie before escaping out the back door. Back at the front door, the two "bikers" are revealed to be two harmless Mormon missionaries on bicycles. Skyler makes an appointment for Walt with a top-rated oncologist. Walt balks at paying a $5,000 deposit on the treatment but then relents, saying he'll borrow the money from his pension. Instead, he unscrews the grate covering a heating duct in his home to retrieve drug cash he's hidden inside. Walt pretends he's checking for mice when Walter Jr. interrupts him. "What the hell's wrong with you?" asks his son. "You're acting like nothing is going on." A guy in a BMW convertible — his license plate reads "KEN WINS" — swipes Walt's parking space in a bank parking lot, all the while boasting into his Bluetooth headset and ignoring Walt. When Walt finally gets inside the bank, he presents a teller a wad of cash and asks for a cashier's check made out to the oncology partnership. A mother, father, and a well-dressed preteen boy are eating dinner in their home and discussing the boy's music lessons and soccer practice when they hear a noise outside. They investigate and discover Jesse with one foot stuck in the patio furniture. "Hey, Dad," he says, waving. "Hey, Mom." Shortly thereafter, Jesse puts head to pillow. He wakes up the next evening. "Do we let him stay?" asks Jesse's dad as he and his wife prepare dinner. Perhaps, she says, if Jesse agrees to attend "those meetings." But she frets about Jesse's effect on Jake, his little brother. The father says they must lay down the law and be consistent about it this time. Walter Jr. sits peering into a microscope in his father's chemistry classroom. No students are present. After a long pause, Walt, who's grading papers, says, "I just think that things have a way of working themselves out." Walter Jr. doesn't reply. Jesse looks at the "Mathlete" and other awards in Jake's bedroom, while the boy types a report on the computer. Jesse congratulates "little bro" but advises that "not all learning comes out of books." Their mom checks in on them, walking away without reclosing the door. "Can't let the scumbag warp the mind of our favorite son," says Jesse, to which Jake replies, "I'm the favorite? You're practically all they ever talk about." Alone in his room, Jesse comes across an old drawing he'd made mocking Walt and says, "Awesome." The drawing is on the back of a chemistry test marked with a big red "F." Scrawled across the bottom: "Ridiculous! Apply yourself." As he reads this, Combo calls and says he's got customers for "the product." Jesse heads over to Walt's house and they talk outside. Walt accuses Jesse of wearing a wire, which Jesse denies. He just wants to "touch base" and says he's "got dudes that would give their left nut for a little more" of Walt's meth. Walt orders him to leave. Before Jesse does, he holds up $4,000. "Your share," he tells Walt, tossing it in the air. The oncologist tells Skyler and Walt that his cancer has spread from the lung to the lymph nodes. Skyler asks if it's curable; the oncologist prefers the word "treatable." Walt asks about side effects. Skyler takes notes as the doctor describes them. Walt zones out. A maid dusting Jesse's room finds a joint. He denies knowing anything about it, but his parents ask him to leave the house. Jesse picks up the joint and walks away. As he stands outside, Jake comes to say goodbye. "Thanks for not telling on me," he says. "Do you think I could have it back?" Jesse holds the joint up, crushes it, and kicks it away. "It's skunk-weed anyway," he says, getting into a cab. "So can I call them and tell them you'll start next week?" Skyler asks Walt, who's reluctant to commit to $90,000 worth of treatment that might not work and could leave them broke. "I just don't want emotions ruling us," he says. Walter Jr., who's watching Earth vs. the Flying Saucers in the living room, blurts out, "Then why don't you just fucking die, already?! Just give up and die." Walt once again crosses paths with the "KEN WINS" BMW at a service station. As one would expect, the man is bragging loudly into his Bluetooth headset. While the driver is inside the office, Walt walks near the car and picks up a squeegee. Lifting the hood of the BMW, he jams the squeegee between the battery terminals. As he walks back to his own car, the BMW bursts into flames. Credits Main Cast * Bryan Cranston as Walter White * Anna Gunn as Skyler White * Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman * Dean Norris as Hank Schrader * Betsy Brandt as Marie Schrader * RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr. Supporting Cast *Tess Harper as Mrs. Pinkman *Steven Michael Quezada as Steven Gomez *Michael Bofshever as Adam Pinkman *Kyle Bornheimer as Ken *Ben Petry as Jake Pinkman *David House as Dr. Delcavoli *Jon Kristian Moore as DEA Agent *Tish Miller as Bank Teller *Charles Baker as Skinny Pete *Rodney Rush as Christian "Combo" Ortega *Michael-David Aragon as DEA Agent #2 (Uncredited) *Robert Anthony Brass as Bank Customer (Uncredited) *Tavia Schwartz as Home Buyer (Uncredited) Trivia *This episode is the first to introduce two of Jesse's closest friends, Christian "Combo" Ortega and Skinny Pete. Brandon "Badger" Mayhew is introduced in the next episode. *Walt Jr. is watching Earth vs. the Flying Saucers on TV. *Ken's infamous car is a 1996 BMW 318i Cabrio. *Creator Vince Gilligan got his start in television with the series The X-Files, which featured a character who was occasionally referred to as "Cancer Man." See references to The X-Files. *Gilligan says this episode is a major turning point in the series, probably because Walter reveals to Skyler that he has cancer. * There may be a reference to Saul Goodman in this episode. When Ken exits his car he mentions having the "best freaking attorney" who has "this little team of ninjas". Both could be referring to Saul since he has proven himself to be a very competent lawyer, often getting Walt, Jesse and others out of legal trouble. He is also willing to use violence, as seen by his hiring of Mike Ehrmantraut. * Featured Music *'"Étienne de Silhouette"' by Black Feather (playing in Walt Jr's headphones) *'"Fly"' by The Pack (while Jesse, Combo, Badger & Skinny Pete hang out) *'"Walt Bandages His Leg"' by Dave Porter (while Walt bandages his leg) *'"Baby Girl, I'm A Blur"' by Say Anything (playing in Ken's car as he steals Walt's parking space) *'"Quartet No. 53 in D major, The Lark, Op. 64, No. 5, Second movement, Adagio cantabile by Joseph Haydn"' by Amadeus Quartet (while the Pinkman family eat dinner) *'"You're All They Talk About"' by Dave Porter (while Jesse struggles to sleep at night) *'"Didn't I"' by Darondo (as Walt sabotages Ken's car) de:Die Diagnose es:Cancer Man Category:Season 1 episodes Category:Breaking Bad episodes